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Conducting Heat Science Experiment

Which material conducts heat better, wood, plastic, or metal? In this experiment, we learn about conducting heat and how various materials conduct heat differently.

Note: Although the materials for this experiment are easy to find, one of the materials is boiling hot water. Depending on the age of your children the help of an adult is important. See our demonstration video and printable instructions below.

JUMP TO SECTION:   Instructions  |  Video Tutorial  |  How it Works

Supplies Needed

• Small Glass Bowl
• Three Spoons (1 made out of wood, 1 made out of plastic and 1 made out of metal)
• Boiling Water

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Conducting Heat Science Experiment Instructions

Step 1 – Begin by positioning 3 spoons in a small glass bowl.

Step 2 – Place a small pat of butter at the top of each spoon.

Step 3 – Put a bead in each pat of butter.

Step 4 – Carefully pour hot boiling water into the bowl until it is almost completely full. Be careful not to allow the spoons to fall into the bowl.

Step 5 – Watch carefully to see what happens to the beads. Write down your observations. Did all the beads behave the same? Do you know why? Find out the answer in the how does this experiment work section below.

Helpful Tip: You will likely need to watch the experiment for 5-10 minutes before anything happens.

Video Tutorial

How Does the Science Experiment Work

Heat can move in three ways: conduction, convection and radiation. In this experiment, the heat was transferred by means of conduction.

Conduction is the transfer of heat from one particle of matter to another without the movement of matter itself. As matter is heated, the particles that make up the matter begin to move faster.

In this experiment when we placed the spoons in the boiling water, the fast-moving water particles collide with the slow-moving spoon particles. As a result of the collision between the water particles and spoon particles, the particles of the spoon begin to move faster and the metal spoon becomes hotter. As the metal spoon gets hotter, the butter begins to melt and the bead slides down the spoon.

Why did the bead slide down the metal spoon faster than the wooden spoon or plastic spoon? Metal is a good conductor of heat, while wood and plastic are good insulators . A conductor transfers thermal energy (heat) well, while an insulator does not transfer thermal energy (heat) well.

I hope you enjoyed the experiment. Here are some printable instructions:

Instructions

• Begin my positioning 3 spoons in a small glass bowl.
• Place a small pat of butter at the top of each spoon
• Put a bead in each pat of butter
• Carefully pour hot boiling water into the bowl until it is almost completely full. Be careful not to allow the spoons to fall into the bowl.
• Watch carefully to see what happens to the beads. Note: You will likely need to watch the experiment for 5-10 minutes before anything happens.

Reader Interactions

March 5, 2019 at 6:35 am

Dear CoolScienceExperimentsHQ,

Thank you so much for sharing this, this really-really helped me and my group out on our science experiment on conduction and convection! Again i have to say thank you for this.

~a grateful 7th grader

May 5, 2023 at 7:53 pm

yes i agree with you this was very helpful and it looks fun to make.

May 10, 2023 at 3:59 am

same with me lol but for yr 8

February 2, 2024 at 11:42 am

I have not tried this experiment yet but, based on the comments so far I can be almost sure that it will work thanks for being super awesome scientists -A 5th grader that hopes to be grateful in the future

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Family-Style Homeschooling

Heat Conduction Experiment

This exploration is for all ages, as the colored smilies show. You can do the heat conduction experiment with your whole family together!

The heat conduction experiment is a chemistry lesson from Layers of Learning Unit 2-12 about the properties of metals. Layers of Learning has hands-on experiments in every unit of this family-friendly curriculum. Learn more about Layers of Learning .

Heat is conducted through a material, like a spoon, by vibrating and colliding molecules in the spoon. The higher the heat, the higher the vibrations. Heat can also be conducted from one material to another, like water to a spoon, through the water molecules vibrating against the spoon’s molecules.

Some materials conduct heat better then others. In this experiment you’ll get to see how plastic, metal, and wood compare in their ability to conduct heat.

Step 1: Library Research

Before you begin exploring, read a book or watch a video about heat conduction. Here are some suggestions, but if you can’t find these, look for books at your library about heat conduction. The colored smilies above each book tell you what age level they’re recommended for.

As Amazon affiliates, the recommended books and products below kick back a tiny percentage of your purchase to us. It doesn’t affect your cost and it helps us run our website. We thank you!

The Energy That Warms Us

by Jennifer Boothroyd

Heat Transfer

by Crash Course

Thermal Conduction, Convection, and Radiation

by Khan Academy

Step 2: Heat Conduction Experiment

WARNING! This experiment uses very hot water and a hot burner. Young children should be kept back while an older child (already trained in the use and safety of hot stoves) or adult performs the experiment.

For this experiment you will need a stove or hot plate, a pot of water, three spoons made of different materials: metal, plastic, and wood, and butter or margarine.

Start by putting a pot of water on the hot stove.  Once the water is good and hot (boiling or near boiling), carefully place 3 different spoons in the pot – one metal, one plastic or rubber, and one wooden spoon. Wait a few minutes for the spoons to heat up.

The next step is to make a prediction or hypothesis about what will happen if you place a little pat of butter on each of the spoons.  Have the kids write down their hypotheses. Here is a scientific method experiment sheet to use for this experiment.

The actual experiment happens very quickly, so make sure everyone is ready and watching when you put a pat of butter on each one.

The butter on the metal spoon almost immediately melted away; the butter on the wooden spoon melted some; meanwhile, the butter on the plastic spoon stayed firm much longer.  The heat was transferred by moving molecules within the spoons.

Metal conducts heat much better than plastic or wood.

Complete your experiment sheets with a labeled drawing of the experiment, a description of the method used, and the results.

Step 3: Show What You Know

Now that you know metal is a better conductor of heat than plastic or wood, design an experiment to test other materials against metal like glass and ceramics or fabrics. But this time don’t use a pot of boiling water. Write up your hypothesis, materials, method, and results.

Additional Layers

Additional Layers are extra activities you can do or tangents you can take off on. You will find them in the sidebars of each Layers of Learning unit . They are optional, so just choose what interests you.

Check out this interactive website to learn about the three ways heat is transferred – conduction, convection, and radiation – and what the difference between them is.

Additional Layer

Some kids may ask if cold is conducted too.  The answer is no.  Scientifically, cold is the absence of heat, so only heat is conducted. If something feels cold that is because it is conducting your heat away from your body.

Deep Thoughts

Is the blanket on your bed a good heat conductor?  That doesn’t mean “Does it keep you warm?”  It means, “Does heat transfer through your blanket quickly and easily?”

Sometimes things are useful to us because they conduct heat well, and some things are more useful to us because they don’t.  What would happen if the hot pads you use to get cookies out the oven were good heat conductors?

Free Samples

Try family-style homeschooling now with free samples of four Layers of Learning units when you subscribe. You'll get to try family-style history, geography, science, and arts with your children.

You can unsubscribe any time.

5 thoughts on “Heat Conduction Experiment”

This is soooo cool!!!!

Can this be done with chocolate?

Anything melt-able will work. Butter is just easily melt-able so it’s easy to see. Chocolate might take a little longer to melt on your metal spoon, but yeah, it should work.

can this be done with a knife?

It can be done with any utensils that will hold the butter and are made of the three basic materials – a heat-tolerant plastic, wood, and metal.

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Explain the process of conduction and investigate the thermal conductivity of some different metals.

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Lesson details

Key learning points.

• Explain how conduction occurs between particles
• Describe the variables and method to investigate conduction
• Describe patterns in data collected, using data to back up statements

This content is made available by Oak National Academy Limited and its partners and licensed under Oak’s terms & conditions (Collection 1), except where otherwise stated.

Starter quiz

6 questions, lesson appears in, unit science / energy.

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Thermal Conductivity (2 Experiments)

Subject: Chemistry

Age range: 11-14

Resource type: Worksheet/Activity

Last updated

3 February 2015

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Thermal Energy Activities: Lesson Ideas, Video Resources, And Experiments

March 1, 2024 //  by  Ashley Pickens

Exploring the scientific concepts of thermal energy can be a fun and engaging experience for students; helping them to better understand the science behind heat and temperature. From hands-on experiments to interactive simulations, there are a variety of activities that educators can use to introduce and reinforce key concepts related to thermal energy. Let’s explore some of the best thermal energy activities for students, including simple experiments and fun projects that can be done in the classroom or at home.

1. One-Stop-Shop Lessons

This one-stop-shop lesson plan for teaching thermal energy is awesome for middle or high-school-aged students. It presents easily digestible information, animations, labs, vocabulary, videos, and assessments – picks and chooses how you’d like to teach your students!

Learn More: Teach Engineering

2. Heat and Thermal Energy are Easily Explained

Miss Dahlman and her pup explain thermal energy in various scenarios;  showcasing heat transfer from sunlight, fire, and household appliances.

Learn More: Miss Dahlman’s World

3. Thermal Energy Simulations

Immerse your students in interactive thermal energy simulations. Students can then engage in lessons about how heat transfers in different mediums.

Learn More: Open Sci Ed

4. Thermal Energy Song 

Your students will be jamming along to this song about heat transfer all day long! It discusses ways that heat transfers and provides real-life examples that are relatable.

Learn More: Science4Us

5. S’more Fun with a Solar Pizza Box Oven 

Cut a flap in the pizza box top to create a sun reflector. Attach aluminum foil to the flap’s inside and bottom. Cover the window of the lid with plastic wrap and arrange smores inside the box. In a few minutes, the sun will melt the chocolate and toast the marshmallows.

Learn More: Take Them Outside

6. Endothermic Reaction Demo

Here’s a cool project to demonstrate endothermic reactions. It’s an ideal experiment for students in the middle grades. Gradually mix vinegar and bicarbonate soda in a foam cup to avoid overflow. Check the thermometer and discover how the temperature changes. 

Learn More: Fizzics Education

7. Heat Transfer Demonstrations

Learn about conduction, convection, and radiation by viewing concrete examples, including cooking and fire demonstrations as well as lava and heat lamp experiments.

Learn More: MooMooMath and Science

8. Hot Air Balloon

Use everyday objects for this fun experiment. Fill two bowls- one with hot water and the other with icy water. Attach a balloon to an empty plastic bottle and submerge it in the cold water and then move to the hot water to inflate the balloon. Return the bottle to the cold water to watch the balloon deflate.

Learn More: Playing With Rain

9. Uses for Thermal Energy

This educational video for kids explores the concept of heat energy and its measurement as temperature. Heat energy also referred to as thermal energy, is transferred between objects and utilized in various applications, such as cooking, warming our surroundings, and production.

Learn More: NG Science

10. Virtual Worksheet for Thermal Energy Unit

Students can either complete this worksheet online or printed it on paper. They’ll have an opportunity to shine by demonstrating their knowledge of thermal energy and heat transfer vocabulary. Teachers can set this up as part of an energy lab station.

Learn More: Live Worksheets

11. Print-and-Sort Thermal Energy Transfers

Individually, or as a whole class, students will cut out and categorize images into conduction, convection, or radiation categories and then describe how each picture demonstrates the particular type of heat transfer. Elementary-grade teachers can then make a bulletin board showcasing the newly taught vocabulary.

Learn More: Troup County School System

12. Electromagnetic Radiation

This video demonstrates heat transfer via electromagnetic radiation. The woman explains gamma rays, infrared, UV, and visible light heat transfer methods.

Learn More: The Animated Teacher

13. Burning a Balloon

Will an air-filled or water-filled balloon pop under a flame? Test your student’s hypotheses and prepare to be amazed! This demonstration explores the physical properties of matter and the heat transfer process. A balloon without water breaks, while one with water will remain intact as the water absorbs heat and therefore protects the rubber.

Learn More: Angles and Acid

14. Convection Current Spiral Experiment

Cut a spiral pattern out of construction paper. Attach a string to the top and hold the spiral above a flame. The hot air from the candle hitting the spiral shape generates momentum transfer and causes the spiral to rotate in a convection current. 

Learn More: Stack Exchange

15. Watch Heat Rise with Convection Currents

Try this experiment with your students! Squirt some red and blue food coloring into the base of a transparent container. Place a mug filled with boiling water beneath the dyes and observe the convection currents that form as the heat rises and falls in a circular motion as the warm water cools.

Learn More: Science Up with the Singing Zoologist

16. Baked Alaska: Edible Science

WOW your students with a thermal energy experiment using insulators, with a Baked Alaska. Match the cake’s shape to the ice cream, cover it with meringue, and bake. When sliced, the surprise of an ice-cold interior wrapped in a warm exterior is revealed; demonstrating the insulating effect of the meringue.

Learn More: Instructables

17. Reading Passages

Perfect for 5th-grade to 7th-grade science classes, this resource provides two nonfiction readings and a set of response questions. It’s available for free in both digital and printable formats and explains heat transfer by conduction, convection, and radiation in relation to thermal energy.

Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers

18. Experimenting with Ice Cream

This fun “Ice Cream in a Bag” lab activity teaches middle/high school students about temperature, forms of energy, heat transfer, and phases of matter and phase changes. It includes student worksheets, a recipe, and an answer key.

Learn More: Pinterest

19. Best Spoon Heat Conductor

Here is a fun small group project for 2nd-grade science students. Place one plastic, one metal, and one wooden spoon in a bowl; top each with butter and a bead. Add hot water- almost filling the bowl. Observe the beads for 5-10 minutes to see what happens.

Learn More: Cool Science Experiments HQ

20. Learn Concepts of Temperature with Glow Sticks

Students will observe glow stick light emission while testing the effects of temperature differences. They’ll fill three beakers with cold, room temperature, and hot water. Students can then crack the glow sticks and place one in each beaker. Finally, they’ll draw conclusions based on the tested variables and data.

Learn More: The Learned Teacher

FREE K-12 standards-aligned STEM

curriculum for educators everywhere!

Find more at TeachEngineering.org .

• TeachEngineering
• Keep It Hot!

Hands-on Activity Keep It Hot!

Grade Level: 6 (5-7)

(over four days; see the Procedure section for details)

This activity also uses some non-expendable (reusable) items such as a household fan, felt sheets and bubble wrap; see the Materials List for details.

Group Size: 4

Activity Dependency: None

Subject Areas: Physical Science

NGSS Performance Expectations:

Activities Associated with this Lesson Units serve as guides to a particular content or subject area. Nested under units are lessons (in purple) and hands-on activities (in blue). Note that not all lessons and activities will exist under a unit, and instead may exist as "standalone" curriculum.

TE Newsletter

Engineering connection, learning objectives, materials list, worksheets and attachments, more curriculum like this, pre-req knowledge, introduction/motivation, vocabulary/definitions, troubleshooting tips, activity extensions, user comments & tips.

Development of insulated vessels is important in engineering, especially in the fields of mechanical, chemical and biological engineering. What students (and engineers) learn about the design and construction of insulated beverage containers can be applied to the design of insulation for houses, clothing and appliances such as refrigerators and ovens.

After this activity, students should be able to:

• Identify materials that are good or poor thermal insulators.
• List modes of heat transfer and identify where conduction and convection occur in an insulated container.
• Describe the effect of insulation thickness on heat transfer.

Educational Standards Each TeachEngineering lesson or activity is correlated to one or more K-12 science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) educational standards. All 100,000+ K-12 STEM standards covered in TeachEngineering are collected, maintained and packaged by the Achievement Standards Network (ASN) , a project of D2L (www.achievementstandards.org). In the ASN, standards are hierarchically structured: first by source; e.g. , by state; within source by type; e.g. , science or mathematics; within type by subtype, then by grade, etc .

Ngss: next generation science standards - science.

Common Core State Standards - Math

View aligned curriculum

Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!

International Technology and Engineering Educators Association - Technology

State standards, california - math, california - science.

Each group needs:

• 4 beverage bottles, 12 oz. (355 ml) glass or rigid plastic with tight fitting lids; see the Troubleshooting Tips section for an alternative setup using beakers and Styrofoam plates
• aluminum foil, ~12-in x 12-in piece (30-cm x 30-cm)
• bubble-wrap, ~12-in x 12-in piece
• construction paper or tag board/card stock, ~8.5-in x 11-in sheet (22-cm x 28-cm)
• felt, ~8.5-in x 11-in piece
• other potential insulation materials that students bring from home that they wish to test
• thermometers; one per bottle is ideal (share among the groups if not enough)
• (optional) graph paper, one sheet per student (if students graph their data; see the Activity Extensions section)
• Keep It Hot! Handout , one per student
• Keep It Hot! Post-Quiz , one per student

To share with the entire class:

• hot water in a container with a spout, either from the tap, microwaved or a mix of boiling water and cool tap water

Students need a good understanding of thermal energy, heat and heat transfer, including the concepts of conduction, convection and insulation, as provided by the What Is Heat? associated lesson. Students also should know how to read thermometers and record data.

Who likes a cold drink on a hot day? How about hot soup on a cold day? How do you keep a cold drink cold and a hot drink hot? Imagine a picnic in the park on a hot summer day. Where do you keep your cold drinks? (Expect students to name ice chests and coolers.) What if you want to bring hot soup to school on a cold day? What would you use to keep it hot? (Expect students to suggest using a thermos bottle.) Over the years, engineers have spent a lot of time trying to come up with creative ways to keep some things hot and other things cool. Today, we are going to act as if we are engineers and explore ways to keep something hot.

We learned in our heat lesson that thermal energy is transferred in three different ways. Can you name all three? (Listen to student answers and make sure they name conduction, convection and radiation.)

Who can remember the difference between conduction and convection? (Give students time to recall the differences and/or review their notes.)

What is conduction? (Call on students until a clear definition of is provided: heat transfer within or between solid objects.) Can anyone give me an example of conduction?

What is convection? (Call on students until a clear definition of is provided: heat transfer into or out of fluids.) Can anyone give an example of convection?

What do we call materials that slow down heat transfer? (Call on students someone says: insulators.)

Today, we are going to see conduction and convection in action and see what sorts of materials make good insulators so that we can keep something hot for as long as possible. In engineering teams, you will design and construct insulated bottles to hold hot drinks. We will put hot water in the bottles and then take temperature measurements to see which design keeps the water hottest over time.

Timing & Schedule

Plan on this activity taking about 200 minutes total over four days. Suggested schedule:

• Day 1: Preparation and design (30 minutes)
• Day 2: Build and test without a fan (60 minutes)
• Day 3: Test with a fan (50 minutes)
• Day 4: Results/discussion, writing, assessment (60 minutes)

The procedures below include a pacing guide; timing is given as cumulative elapsed time for each day. For example, "minutes 5-10" means from the fifth to the tenth minute of the activity.

Before the Activity

• Invite students to bring in materials from home to test as insulators for their bottles.
• Gather materials and make copies of the Keep It Hot! Handout and Keep It Hot! Post-Quiz , one each per student.
• Prepare a pitcher(s) of hot water. Keep in mind that the higher the initial temperature of the water in the bottles, the more noticeable the temperature drop will be; however, severe burns may occur if students come in contact, even briefly, with water of greater than 140 ˚F (~60 ˚C). A 1:1 mixture of boiling water with cool tap water yields approximately this temperature.

With the Students

Day 1: Engineering Challenge Preparation and Design

• (minutes 0-5) Have students complete their handouts up to the activity description, which includes the Introduction portion on the first page and the questions on the second page.
• (minutes 5-10) Have students read through (aloud) the engineering challenge activity overview, the design description, and the materials list on the third page of the handout. Ensure that students understand that during Day 2 and Day 3 of the activity, each group is responsible to do the following:
• Prepare 4 bottles: 1 control bottle with no insulation and 3 other bottles, each with different types of insulation attached.
• Test designs for two 10-minute periods (this is flexible). In the first period, the bottles do not experience forced air movement, so any convection that occurs is natural convection. In the second period, place the bottles under airflow provided by a fan in order to see the effect of forced air on heat transfer.
• (minutes 10-25) Have students work in teams to decide what materials they want to test and the thickness of those materials to be applied. To engage thinking on this topic, have students address the two questions at the bottom of page three of the handout. Encourage students to brainstorm and research on what might be good or bad insulation materials.
• (minutes 25-30) Have students read through the procedure (aloud) for what they will be doing the next day. Let them know that they are responsible for bringing in any additional materials to test and that the activity will start promptly the next time they assemble.

Day 2: Build and Test 1 - Cooling with No Fan

• (minutes 0-5) Briefly review the activity procedure on the handout and check in with groups who brought materials to ensure that they are suitable for the task at hand. (Can the material be applied to a bottle; if so, how?)
• (minutes 5-7) Pass out the materials (or enlist students to do so). It is best if groups that brought test materials forego using the teacher-supplied insulation test materials because trying to test more than four bottles per group is usually too much to manage.
• (minutes 7-20) In this design phase, groups prepare their insulated bottles by applying a different insulating material to each bottle. This may include experimentation with applying more than one layer of material. Have students bring completed bottles to a central location (such as a back counter). Have them place a thermometer in one of their bottles.
• (minutes 20-25) As groups bring to the back counter their bottles, fill them with hot water and have one student read the thermometer. At this point, all bottle contents are the same temperature so it is only necessary to measure one. Have students record this value for all bottles in the handout's Day 2 data collection table. Immediately after measuring the temperature, cap all bottles tightly. Let them sit undisturbed for ~10 minutes (it need not be exact for all groups because all of their bottles will receive the same treatment).
• (minutes 25-35) During the 10-minute wait, engage the groups in a vocabulary review or quiz about the different modes of heat transfer. Help students bridge the comprehension gap of what they learned in prior lesson(s) about heat, and the activity at hand.
• (minutes 35-60) Have students read and record the water temperatures in their bottles. This can be done efficiently, by having group 1 go to the back counter and record the temperature readings off the four thermometers in its four bottles that the instructor placed in the bottles. Then have group 1 move the four thermometers to the bottles of group 2. Then group 2 goes back and records its values. Group 2 moves the thermometers to group 3's bottles and so on. Have groups calculate the temperature differences for each bottle and answer the discussion question on page four of the handout.
• Have groups empty their bottles and set them aside for Day 3.

Day 3: Test 2 - Cooling with Fan

• (minutes 0-5) Briefly review the activity procedure and the goal for today's testing. Encourage students to make predictions about how the fan will affect the cooling of the bottles.
• (minutes 5-10) Direct the groups to reposition their bottles in front of a household fan. Re-fill the bottles with hot water and take the initial temperature readings for students (to save time). Have students record this temperature as their initial temperatures in the handout's "fan on" Day 3 data collection table on page five.
• (minutes 10-20) Turn on the fan and let the bottles sit in the air stream for 10 minutes.
• (minutes 20-45) Using the same method as before, have groups read the temperatures in their bottles, recording results in the handout's Day 3 table. Have groups calculate the temperature differences for each bottle and attempt the discussion questions, as time permits.
• (minutes 45-50) Wrap up by explaining that next time, the focus will be on answering the discussion questions.

• (minutes 0-2) Explain the plan for today. We will complete the handout discussion questions and then take a short quiz on heat transfer.
• (minutes 2-10) Expect many students to have already have answered the first discussion question. Take a few minutes to have a few students share their results to develop a class consensus on what materials worked well as insulators. Write these on the board. Did thickness matter? For groups with small temperature changes, how many layers of material did they apply?
• (minutes 10-45) Have students answer the remaining discussion questions, pausing between them to discuss answers as a class and gauge student understanding of key concepts. Additional discussion suggestions:
• Reinforce the connection between heat and real world problems by asking students to think of other devices or situations that might involve heat flow and the need to either increase or decrease heat flow. (Such as wearing winter jacket.)
• One example that involves the control of heat flow is house construction and insulation. A home with poor thermal insulation requires the use of additional energy to heat in the winter and cool in the summer, increasing its environmental impact. Insulation beyond a certain thickness might not be warranted if the added construction costs are not offset by energy savings. Some insulation materials might be toxic (such as asbestos) or environmentally hazardous (like foam with CFCs that can destroy the ozone layer). Based on the results of each group, what insulation might the class use to insulate a new house?
• (minutes 45-60) Administer the post-quiz.

conduction: Heat transfer within or between solid objects.

convection: Heat transfer into or out of fluids.

heat: Thermal energy that flows due to a difference in temperature. Heat flows from hot to cold.

heat transfer: A method by which heat flows (conduction, convection, radiation).

insulation: A material that slows down heat transfer.

radiation: Heat transfer due to packets of energy called photons that can travel through many substances, even empty space.

Pre-Activity Assessment

Heat Review and Activity Intro: On Day 1, have students answer the questions on the first two pages of the Keep It Hot! Handout . Glance at their answers to make sure their base knowledge of thermal energy, heat and heat transfer is adequate and correct.

Activity Embedded Assessment

Handout: On Days 2-4 have students complete the remainder of the handout, which includes answering questions about materials, recording data and answering the Results and Discussion questions.

Discussion: During the activity, students answer the questions provided on the handout. At key times, such as during the design process and after testing designs (see below), lead class discussions to review their answers and explore their understanding of the concepts. Answers are provided in the Keep It Hot! Post-Quiz Answer Key .

Prior to building (during the design process on Day 1):

• The goal is to prevent heat from leaving your bottle. What types of materials do you think would be good at this? List them below.
• Does the thickness of your insulation matter? Explain what you think would happen if you double the amount of insulation used on each bottle.

After testing designs (on Day 4):

• What material kept the water hottest? Is this what you expected?
• Did heat transfer occur faster or slower when the fan was turned on? (Expect that heat transfer occurred faster, as evidenced by the water temperature dropping more quickly with the fan turned on, especially in the bottle without insulation.)
• What kinds of heat transfer occurred when the fan was on? Explain where each type was occurring. (Conduction occurred through the wall of the bottle and through the insulation; forced convection occurred in the air surrounding the bottle.)
• What kinds of heat transfer occurred when the fan was off? (Conduction, as well as convection in the air of the surrounding bottle.)
• Suggest a modification you would make to your best insulation to reduce heat transfer even more. Would this change the cost of manufacturing your bottle?

Post-Activity Assessment

Post-Quiz: At activity end, administer the four-question multiple-choice Keep It Hot! Post-Quiz . Review students' answers to gauge their comprehension of the concepts.

Safety Issues

• To prevent burns, do not overheat the water, especially if microwaving. Check the water temperature!

Beakers may be used instead of closed topped bottles. In this case, hold the thermometer in the heated water by pushing them each through a Styrofoam plate placed on top of the beaker.

The activity can be modified to reduce the number of days required. Rather than having two separate testing days—with and without a fan—have half of the groups test with a fan and the rest of the groups test without a fan during one testing day. This approach also helps the two sides of the class to compare their results, facilitating the communication of their findings.

If beakers are used instead of closed topped bottles (as mentioned in the Troubleshooting Tips section), have students record the water temperature every 30 seconds during the 10-minute testing time. Once students have completed the two 10-minute testing sessions, have them graph the data for each tested beaker, water temperature vs. time. Make sure students clearly label the axes and create descriptive titles. It works well if students plot data for all the tested beakers on one graph, using different color markers or pencils to indicate data for each beaker and creating a color key. This process provides students with a better visual representation of heat flow.

After observing the results from initial testing, have students make further iterations to modify and test their bottle designs in order to implement improvements.

Have students apply their understanding of heat transfer to design and build ice chests or other insulated containers and test their effectiveness at keeping ice from melting when left overnight or for several hours.

Students learn about the definition of heat as a form of energy and how it exists in everyday life. They learn about the three types of heat transfer—conduction, convection and radiation—as well as the connection between heat and insulation.

Students learn the scientific concepts of temperature, heat and the transfer of heat through conduction, convection and radiation, which are illustrated by comparison to magical spells found in the Harry Potter books.

Students learn about the nature of thermal energy, temperature and how materials store thermal energy. They discuss the difference between conduction, convection and radiation of thermal energy, and complete activities in which they investigate the difference between temperature, thermal energy and ...

With the help of simple, teacher-led demonstration activities, students learn the basic physics of heat transfer by means of conduction, convection and radiation. They also learn about examples of heating and cooling devices, from stove tops to car radiators, that they encounter in their homes, scho...

Primary Science Resources for the National Curriculum

Year 5 properties and changes of materials.

• Outstanding Science Year 5
• Properties And Changes Of Materials

Knowledge and Understanding

Statutory requirements, notes and guidance, upper ks2 - working scientifically, properties of materials ks2.

Pupils investigate the material properties of classroom objects, predicting and measuring transparency, electrical and thermal conductivity, and magnetism. They explain solubility using a simple particle model, and why solutions cannot be separated by filtration. They investigate which materials are soluble in water, the hardness of different materials, and evaporative separation. They consider fair testing, record their results in tables and display them in Venn diagrams and line graphs. Pupils discuss suitable methods for separating different mixtures. They consider a range of physical changes and explain whether they are reversible. They explain why materials suitable for different purposes. Pupils create an information text describing and evaluating 4 new synthetic materials.

Separating solutions Investigation Free!

Outstanding science year 5 | properties and changes of materials | os5c004.

• Description
• National Curriculum
• Key learning

Learning objective

I can explain how to recover a substance from a solution.

Children investigate the best place to put a cup of salt solution so that the water evaporates most quickly. They choose 4 locations and measure the amount of water in each container over the course of 7 days. They transfer their results to a line graph and use this to answer the question.

• 5c2 : know that some materials will dissolve in liquid to form a solution, and describe how to recover a substance from a solution

Properties of materials Investigation

Outstanding science year 5 | properties and changes of materials | os5c001.

I can group materials according to their properties.

Children investigate the properties of 10 different materials. They predict and then investigate whether the materials are electrical conductors, transparent, strong thermal conductors or magnetic. They record their results in a table, and then complete a Venn diagram containing 2 intersecting sets, choosing 2 properties by which to group the materials.

• 5c1 : compare and group together everyday materials on the basis of their properties, including their hardness, solubility, transparency, conductivity (electrical and thermal), and response to magnets

Soluble materials Investigation

Outstanding science year 5 | properties and changes of materials | os5c002.

I can investigate which materials are soluble in water.

Children investigate whether sand, sugar, salt, flour or iron filings will dissolve in water. They record their results in a table and then display them in a single-set Venn diagram. They consider how they could separate the mixtures and solutions.

Investigating hardness Investigation

Outstanding science year 5 | properties and changes of materials | os5c003.

I can investigate the hardness of materials and place them in order of hardness.

Children investigate whether 5 different materials can be scratched by 4 different objects of increasing hardness. They use their results to place the materials in order of hardness.

Separating mixtures Investigation

Outstanding science year 5 | properties and changes of materials | os5c005.

I can suggest ways in which different mixtures can be separated.

Children consider 6 different mixtures / solutions and discuss the best way to separate each. They attempt to separate them using their chosen method. They discuss whether their method worked and why.

• 5c3 : use knowledge of solids, liquids and gases to decide how mixtures might be separated, including through filtering, sieving and evaporating

Uses of materials Worksheet

Outstanding science year 5 | properties and changes of materials | os5c006.

I can explain why materials are used for different purposes.

Children identify the materials that 4 different objects are made from and explain why they have been chosen with reference to their physical properties. Next, they describe the physical properties and uses of 6 different materials - metals, plastics, wood, fabrics, glass and leather. They cut and paste or write their own descriptions.

• 5c4 : give reasons, based on evidence from comparative and fair tests, for the particular uses of everyday materials, including metals, wood and plastic

New materials Worksheet

Outstanding science year 5 | properties and changes of materials | os5c007.

I can explain the advantages of new materials and how they were created.

Children learn about the origins of Post-It Notes, wrinkle-free cotton, polar fleece and Gore-Tex. They complete an information text, showing when and by whom they were invented, their advantages and disadvantages, and common applications.

Reversible and irreversible changes Worksheet

Outstanding science year 5 | properties and changes of materials | os5c008.

I can identify if a change is easily reversible and how to reverse it.

Children examine 11 different physical changes of materials. They identify whether they can be easily reversed and explain how or why.

• 5c5 : demonstrate that dissolving, mixing and changes of state are reversible changes
• 5c6 : explain that some changes result in the formation of new materials, and that this kind of change is not usually reversible, including changes associated with burning and the action of acid on bicarbonate of soda.

Get instant access to all of our Year 5 resources.

Outstanding science - year 5 contains all of the following units:.

Unit 5A - Living Things And Their Habitats

Unit 5B - Animals, Including Humans

Unit 5C - Properties And Changes Of Materials

Unit 5D - Earth And Space

Unit 5E - Forces

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Transfer of energy (heat transfer)

This section covers heat flow methods across material boundaries and the application of these in engineering contexts  including: 

This is something that students have covered at length in both KS3 and KS4 and should be able to explain the theory well. They may need support to match the theory to the practical applications of this, as many believe that eg insulating a house will keep it hotter, rather than that it reduces heat loss.

The operation of heat pumps involving latent heat of fusion and vaporisation will be a new concept to most students, and they may need some time to understand the associated equations.

Heat Loss from Buildings

Quality Assured Category: Mathematics Publisher: MEI

This engineering resource, produced by Mathematics in Education and Industry (MEI) for the Royal Academy of Engineering, asks the question: how can the most efficient design be determined, taking both building and running costs into account?  The introduction considers the thermal conductivity of different materials graphically to help decide which material should be used. There follows an explanation of the concept of kilowatt hours. A video accompanies the resource explaining thermal conductivity.

The resource can be used to help students look at bulding design and the types of materials that can be used, and how these choices affect heat loss. The worksheets can be done either in the classroom or for homework to consolidate learning in class.

Steam Pipe Insulation

Quality Assured Category: Engineering Publisher: Royal Academy of Engineering

This resource, from Mathematics for Engineering Exemplars, shows the application of mathematics within the field of mechanical engineering. Here students learn that lack of proper insulation results in large energy losses which, over time, cost a lot of money. Models are used to calculate the value of the critical insulation radius and the radius beyond which the insulation starts to be effective as an insulator.

This would be best used by the teacher as a guidance to help write notes and content for a lesson based on the mathematics of insulation

Ice Melting Blocks Demonstration

Quality Assured Category: Physics Publisher: National STEM Learning Centre and Network

In this National Science Learning Network video, Simon Quinnell investigates the way different materials conduct heat using conductivity blocks and ice cubes. The video shows how the ice cubes melt at different rates depending on the thermal conductivity of the materials they are sitting on. Simon explains how this experiment can be used in the school laboratory, what students should observe and the reasons for the unexpected results.

Students could either be shown the video, or more importantly, could replicate the experiment in the lab,  going on to explain what they have seen. It could form the basis of an extended investigation

Conduction, Convection, Radiation

A brief overview of each of the methods of heat transfer from the Institute of Physics.

A useful article to give to students to highlight what they already know about the topic and what they did not know, as well as for a stimulus for a discussion on how engineers need to deal with energy transfers, or for teachers to use to help them formualte class notes.

Thermal Transfers

A link to the 'Practical Physics' website from the Institute of Pysics which lists a range of experiments and demonstrations for the different thermal transfers which will help students to visualise the concepts.

These experiments could be carried out either by students or as a demonstration to help illustrate the ways that thermal transfers work.

Latent Heat

A simple page on latent heat, including the heating curve showing phase changes which students will be familar with from KS4. It also includes information on how a heat pipe works.

It can be used either as homework for students, or to support teachers with their planning.

Phase Changes

Information, including worked examples of equations, on latent heat of fusion and vapourisation. This is from the Georgia State University website and looks to be part of an online course, but is very useful in terms of background knowledge for staff

How Heat Pumps Work

A page discussing how heat pumps work from 'Real World Physics Problems'. There is quite a lot of reading here, but the diagrams are useful and help to simplify things a little.

This would be useful for either background reading or as a homework where students have to interpret the information and show their understanding to others.